Though his administration opposed the release of the public school teacher evaluations until the courts forced them to do so, Mayor Michael Bloomberg now says this data belongs to the public.

“Parents have a right to know every bit of information that we can possibly collect about the teacher that’s in front of their kids. This is about our kids’ lives. This is not about anything else,” said the mayor on Tuesday.

The mayor added that you can’t be in favor of evaluations unless you’re going to actually use them.

“And it’s the parents who have to make the decision where they send their kids. We don’t tell the parent where to send the kids. The school system gives parents lots of opportunities. So to say that a parent shouldn’t get whatever information is available is just an outrage,” said Bloomberg.